Journal 7: Logan

Mr. Tanimoto is by far my favorite character and perhaps the most interesting character. What makes him so interesting is what he has given to the people of Hiroshima. Luckily, he was not badly hurt when the bomb went off. Hundreds of thousands of people were wounded and killed. Mr. Tanimoto could have found a safe place and stayed there while everything was sorted out. But instead he did the most courageous, heroic, and honorable thing after such a horrific event. He put his own life on the line to shuttle people from unsafe places by the fire to safer places including the Red Cross Hospital. It was interesting how he obtained the boat. There were several men laying dead by the boat and Mr. Tanimoto felt guilty for disturbing their corpses. He said, "Please forgive me for taking this boat. I must use it for others, who are alive" (Page 37). This just shows his true character. Even though it makes him feel bad to disturb the dead, he is willingly to move past this and help the wounded. We should appreciate heroic efforts especially the ones Mr. Tanimoto took in the most devastating times. I am not saying that we should all be heroes, but we should appreciate people who do heroic things similar to him. In comparison, the men and women who protect and serve the United States of America should be appreciated and respected for their unselfish efforts, especially for giving their lives.


How was the food supply affected? How did the land heal from the bomb?
Despite the widespread damage we have learned about while reading Hiroshima, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later was so much more powerful. "Little Boy" which is the name of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was composed of Uranium, whereas "Fat Man", the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, was made of plutonium. Both of these bombs caused horrific damage, but "Fat Man" completely wiped out everything in the city. With both bombs, there was debris, bodies, and scorched Earth for miles. The land was scorched and flattened. Both cities had went from prosperous trading posts and military posts to barren wastelands of debris and remains of its people. The radiation from the bombs were also absorbed by anything in the area which included the surviving people, the debris, and the land. Any and all crops were either destroyed or super saturated with radiation. The oceans were polluted with the radiation which made any wildlife in the ocean radioactive. Unfortunately, radiation cannot be removed once it is absorbed into the soil. The only way for radiation to dissipate is for it to decay naturally which depends on the elements. Food shortages did happen in the short-term but eventually Japan was able to import food that was not radioactive. Help from other nations allowed Japan to rebuild and its population grew immensely despite the radiation and death caused by the bombs.

The land absorbed much of the blast of the bomb that hit Hiroshima

Sources:
1. http://zazenlife.com/2011/12/29/the-after-effects-of-the-atomic-bombs-on-hiroshima-nagasaki/
2. http://www.nucleardarkness.org/nuclear/effectsofnuclearweapons/